1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coaxial connector used for portable, small electronic equipment or the like and, more particularly, to a coaxial connector which has a movable terminal and a fixed terminal disposed in an insulating case thereof so that the movable terminal and the fixed terminal are connected to or disconnected from each other as a mating coaxial connector is attached thereto or detached therefrom.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional coaxial connector used for portable communications equipment such as a portable telephone has a construction shown in FIG. 11, for example. A conventional coaxial connector 80 has a fixed terminal 83 and a flexible movable terminal 84 provided in a cavity 82 of a cylindrical insulating case 81. The fixed terminal 83 and the movable terminal 84 have the left ends thereof fixed and they respectively extend rightward along the top and bottom surfaces of the cavity 82 as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12. A predetermined interval is provided between the fixed terminal 83 and the movable terminal 84 at their fixed ends. Provided on the outer surface of the insulating case 81 is a cylindrical outer terminal 86 which is disposed in close contact with a cylindrical peripheral surface 85 of the insulating case 81. Also, an additional component 89 is located on the outside of the coaxial connector 80 to make it flat and square.
When no mating coaxial connector is attached to this coaxial connector 80, the urging force of the flexible movable terminal 84 holds itself in contact with the fixed terminal 83. When a mating coaxial connector is attached to the coaxial connector, the movable terminal 84 is pushed up by a central contact 88 of a mating coaxial connector, which has been introduced through an inlet 87 of the coaxial connector 80, and disconnected from the fixed terminal 83, bringing the central contact 88 into contact with the movable terminal 84 as shown in FIG. 12. When the mating coaxial connector is attached, an outer conductor, not shown, of the mating coaxial connector is brought into contact with the external terminal 83 of the coaxial connector 80.
In the foregoing conventional coaxial connector 80, however, the fixed terminal 83 and the movable terminal 84 are so disposed that they are axially aligned and serially positioned with the central contact 88 of the mating coaxial connector, making it impossible to reduce the lateral dimension of the coaxial connector 80 from the sum of the full length of at least the fixed terminal 83 and the full length of the central contact 88. This has posed a problem in that it is difficult to reduce the length as well as thickness of the coaxial connector 80, failing to fulfill the demand for further compacted portable communications equipment and the like.
An attempt to reduce the size of a coaxial connector with the construction illustrated in FIG. 11 would require that the dimension of the inlet 87 through which the central contact 88 is introduced be reduced. This, however, would inevitably make smaller the interval between the fixed and movable terminals 83 and 84 when they are set apart from each other, presenting a problem of insufficient electrical isolation between the fixed and movable terminals 83 and 84 against high-frequency signals.
The difficulty of reducing the thickness is attributable to a considerable distance LY provided to set the fixed terminal 83 and the movable terminal 84 apart vertically; the distance LY must be added to the thickness of the coaxial connector 80, thus preventing the reduced thickness from being achieved. The thickness would be of course reduced by reducing the distance LY; however, doing so would make the fixed terminal 83 and the movable terminal 84 closer, resulting in inadequate electrical isolation between the fixed terminal 83 and the movable terminal 84 against high-frequency signals when they are in a disconnected state as described above. This means that the reduction in the thickness is unlikely to be accomplished by shortening the distance LY in a practical coaxial connector.